


if my wishes came true

by screaminghalfpastmidnight



Series: happy endings aren't overrated [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: also mentions of the timeline pre-nora, and oliver survives, basically way more people fight in crisis, but also you don't really need to read the other parts to understand this, connor will and mia rights!, crisis on infinite earths, it just might help, pre-earth prime timeline, so there will be some westallen fam in this as well, this is a continuation of my previous story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:21:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29413314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screaminghalfpastmidnight/pseuds/screaminghalfpastmidnight
Summary: “She said it had changed.” Oliver mumbles to himself, though he catches their attention, Connor asking who ‘she’ is. “Nora. Barry’s kid.”Recognition flickers in Mia’s eyes as she asks sharply, “She was here? We have to go see her.”Oliver shakes his head sadly. “Mia, you can’t. Nora died while she was here.” The absolute heartbreak that flashes across his daughter’s face is unmistakable as she stumbles backwards, shaking her head. She stares at him for a second then mumbles, “I’m gonna be sick.” before darting to the bathroom, Connor following after her with teary eyes.//set in a universe where nora west-allen has returned to the past, changed Crisis so that both Oliver and Barry survive, and then promptly died - Mia, William and Connor are sent to the past to help aid the 2019 heroes in the Crisis battle.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Iris West, Mia Smoak/Nora West-Allen, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Series: happy endings aren't overrated [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576168
Comments: 13
Kudos: 26
Collections: Collection of x-star Works





	if my wishes came true

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO AGAIN!! Ahh I'm so happy to be back! this fic was supposed to be out much earlier but there were just so many variables and i wanted to get it right, so it took a bit longer but she's finally here! 
> 
> Here, we cover mostly Team Arrow's perspective once Mia and William are visited by the Monitor, answer some remaining questions, fight Crisis and there may be a few familiar faces showing up ;)
> 
> Title from "the 1" by Taylor Swift
> 
> HAPPY READING !!

**_if one thing had been different,_ **

**_would everything be different today?_ **

Mia wakes up confused.

_Really_ confused.

She was certain they’d just been fighting the Deathstrokes… Connor had been about to kill JJ, who’d just killed Zoe… but now, she’s back home. Home as in, the _cabin_.

She gets up from her spot on the couch, stepping around carefully as she glances every which way, though there doesn’t seem to be anything off other than the fact that she shouldn’t be there. “What the hell?” She mutters quietly, clenching her right hand into a fist and making her way from the living room to the kitchen, though nothing seems out of place there either. She grabs a knife, flipping it over and concealing it behind her back as she makes her way throughout the house, stopping only when she hears her brother’s voice call her name from her childhood bedroom. She stops outside of the door and prepares herself before swinging it open wide, only to be met with her brother’s confused eyes and again, nothing out of place or suspicious.

“Oh, you _are_ here.” He says casually, pulling at his jacket. “Where is here, exactly? Do you know?”

Mia nods, voice still quiet. “Yeah, this is the cabin. It’s where Mom raised me.” She glances at a framed photo of her parents that was kept on her desk in the corner and points. “See? Look.”

William turns, picking up the photo for a second. “Wow. I’m guessing Mom didn’t keep around any photos of me, huh?”

Mia frowns. “I’m sure she hid them somewhere.” The comment isn’t exactly reassuring.

“What are we doing here? Last thing I remember, we were…” William starts to ask, though his face drops at the last second. “Zoe.” He whispers.

Mia takes a breath, biting her lip. “Yeah. Doesn’t explain how we got here, though. I’m pretty sure Mom boxed all of this up before she left, so this doesn’t make any sense.”

She looks around, starting to walk out of her old room and Will follows behind her like a puppy, tapping her arm. “Hey, are you okay? Your neck’s still…”

She unconsciously brings her hand up to touch her wound, wincing as she does it. “Yeah, it’s fine. I barely feel it.”

As they make their way back into the living room, William jumps at the sight of Mar Novu, Mia scoffing and putting her knife down as William frowns. “Oh, it’s just you. What do you want?”

“Hello, Queen children. I come bearing gifts.”

Mia hums. “Will, is it your birthday?”  
  


“Oh, shut up! You know when my birthday is.” Will retorts, sitting down on the sofa. 

“I have an offer for the two of you. The chance to go back in time and spend a short while with your father before he dies in Crisis.”

Mia shifts uncomfortably on her feet, crossing her arms over herself as she watches her brother’s body tense. “You can do that?” He asks, leaning forward with a wary look on his face. “I mean, even if you can, why would you?”

“Because I’ve watched you grow up.” Novu replies simply. “And I think you’d be better for it.”

William takes a minute and then seems to believe him, turning his head to his sister, who looks distracted and nervous, swaying on her feet. He gets up, only stopping when he’s directly in front of her. “Mia, what are you thinking?”

She blinks, looking up at him finally and then shakes her head, mumbling, “I don’t know.”

William nods, understanding. “We don’t have to go. I don’t need to see him, we don’t have to do this.”

“Will.” Mia says sternly, grabbing his hands. “No, if this is what you want, you deserve to see Dad. I just… I’m not sure if I should.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere without you. We stick together.” William declares confidently.

Mia sighs dejectedly, knowing he’s telling the truth. “I’m scared.” She whispers. “What would I even say?”

“Hey, I don’t know what I’m gonna say either.” Will reasons, smiling. “But I do know that I never got any closure from him. I found out he was dead on the Saturday night news. I never said goodbye.”

She squeezes his hands tighter. “You’ll be with me the whole time? You won’t leave me to hang out with him alone?”

“Of course.” He grins, nodding. “I’m not gonna do that even if you ask me to. He's my dad, too.”

Mia nods, pausing a second before looking to Mar Novu. “Bring Connor here.”

He gets an annoyed look on his face but then Connor’s lying on the sofa, groaning as he opens his eyes, getting up too quickly. “What the…?”

Mia lets go of Will, walking over to their third friend and kicking the sofa so that he stands up completely. “Hey, we’re going to go see our dead dad. Do you wanna come?”

He looks at her for a second, confused but then he pouts his lips, shrugs his shoulders and chirps, “Sure.”

\--

Novu drops them at the back entrance to the bunker, Connor a little disoriented from the time/space travel, much like his father typically is. Mia gives Connor an annoyed look as Will looks around, the skies dark and the back alleyway empty. “Well, it would’ve been nice if he told us what year he was sending us to.” Will whines, sighing heavily. “I have no idea what we’re about to walk into. I just hope Dad at least knows I exist at this point. It’d be some sick trick for Novu to pull if we’re here before he even knows about me and then I have to watch Mom and Dad break up because of me.”

Neither of the other two answer his nervous ramble, Connor just glares at Mia. “Mia, stop staring at me or I swear to god, I’ll aim for your shoes.” He says, leaning against the wall, still heaving.

Mia just rolls her eyes, raising her hands in mock surrender and going for the door handle. “Can we go in already?”

Will stops her, pulling her backwards. “Hold on. We got to wait for this one to get his shit together.” He says, referring to Connor.

“I’m fine! Let’s just go. It’s better to hurl if there’s a bathroom nearby.” He says, waving his hands for them to go inside. When they step in, the bunker appears near empty, though it seems to still be in use judging by the suits lined up on the mannequins and the miscellaneous gear thrown around, the lights on and bright. “Are they taking a vacation day?”

As they’re stepping up onto the platform, a white light blinds them. It lasts a few moments as they hear footsteps climbing the stairs, before they’re finally able to open their eyes, the room no longer empty. Instead, Dinah, John and René stand in front of them, faces twisted in confusion and a few steps closer to the group, is Oliver and Thea, both just opening their eyes.

William recovers first, mouth falling open without any words coming out as the tears spring to his eyes, staring at his father. After a second, he grins widely, letting out an incredulous laugh and nodding. “I know what year it is. It’s 2019. I can tell by the beard.” He chuckles, reaching his hands out to gesture to his father’s face before he steps forward, choking out “Hi, Dad.” before pulling Oliver into a tight, well-overdue hug.

Oliver stumbles a bit from the force of the hug, face and arms frozen until he seems to connect the dots, his hands coming up hesitantly to hug back. “William… William?” His eyes well up and he embraces his son tighter, laughing along with him, the two of them swaying a little. “Hey, buddy.” He says, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing a kiss to Will’s head.

Will pulls away sniffing, still keeping a hand on his dad’s back as he looks to his sister, who looks like she’s seen a ghost, even though they knew this would happen. “Mia.” He says, snapping her out of it.

Oliver’s eyes flicker with a little spark of hope and wonder as he freezes, staring at her. “Mia?” He asks, and she gives him a tiny smile, nodding her head, a single tear running down her cheek, though she’s mostly just amazed at the sight of him. 

Connor lets out a sigh of relief, hands on his hips. “Well, thank god. I’m gonna be honest, I totally thought he was messing with us.” He laughs, moving to pat a hand on his dad’s shoulder, though Dig jumps away warily. Connor stammer for a bit, removing his hands though he’s now awkward and unsure of what to do with them. “Uh, you don’t know me. I’m not here, this is actually fake.”

William smirks, eyes light as he’s still standing next to his father. “Nice cover story. I think you can tell him who you are, dude.”

Connor doesn’t seem to like that idea, shrugging his shoulders and looking at Will like he’s insane. “What? No, I can’t! Is that not gonna mess with the fabric of the universe?” Will gives him a look that says ‘obviously not considering a god brought you here’ and Connor nods curtly, extending his hand out to John. “Hello. Connor Hawke. I don’t know if you’ve met me yet…”

John shakes his hand without really thinking, though he squints his eyes suspiciously. “I have actually… Wait, what is this?”

“I was just about to ask that question.” Says René, stepping closer into the group.

Thea grins, pointing to William. “Oh, come on, guys. This one’s obviously William from the future. I’d know that face anywhere.”

She’s barely finished her sentence before William throws himself into her arms and she’s shaking him around. “Hi, Auntie Thea.”

Oliver takes the opportunity to look at Mia, instantly growing worried by the large gash on her neck and her blood-stained clothes. He steps closer to her, though cautiously. “Mia… Are you okay?”

It turns out, all she needed was for him to address her directly and then her face is breaking out into a grin. She whispers, “Holy shit.” and then makes her way towards him quickly, his arms already opening and just like that, she’s had her first hug from her dad in over twenty years. He holds her just as tightly as he’d held William, smiling wide as the rest of the group - besides Thea, who’s acting surprisingly calm about the time-travelling kids development - looks around in confusion, Connor standing back with an awkward smile.

“And that would be Mia, my niece.” Thea says proudly, ruffling William’s hair like he’s a pre-teen again, though he’s a lot older than her right now.

“Woah, woah, woah.” René starts, “Since when do you have _two_ kids, Oliver?”

Oliver pulls back from Mia, though not too far and turns around to face René, Dinah and John, though the last of those already knows the story. “Felicity was pregnant when we left. She gave birth a few months ago.”

Dinah tilts her head, pointing to Connor. “So, how do you two know him?”

William can see Connor panicking and shakes his head, answering for him. “Because next year, his mom will die and John will adopt him.” He glances at Connor again. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

Connor makes an angry face at him and huffs, hand going back to his hips, a sign that the future Team Arrow members know means he’s stressed out. John’s completely silent, processing while Thea jumps in, still weirdly calm and happy about the whole thing. “Okay, that still doesn’t explain why you guys are here.”

“To see you guys. Duh.” William answers simply, turning to his father again. “Now, what are _you_ doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the cabin with Mom pretending you’re dead?”

Oliver frowns. “No, I was in Nanda Parbat getting Thea.”

“For what?” Will asks.

Thea snorts, patting Will on the back. “Um, the big upcoming Crisis? Tell me it’s in your history books or something.”

Will shakes his head, confused and he stutters. “What? Why now? The Crisis isn’t until 2024. Why are you all together five years early?”

Oliver’s eyes widen as he thinks, John speaking next. “No, it’s this year. December 10, 2019.”

Connor takes in a sharp breath. “No, that shouldn’t be possible.”

“She said it had changed.” Oliver mumbles to himself, though he catches their attention, Connor asking who ‘she’ is. “Nora. Barry’s kid.”

Recognition flickers in Mia’s eyes as she asks sharply, “She was here? We have to go see her.”

Oliver shakes his head sadly. “Mia, you can’t. Nora died while she was here.”

The absolute heartbreak that flashes across his daughter’s face is unmistakable as she stumbles backwards, shaking her head. She stares at him for a second then mumbles, “I’m gonna be sick.” before darting to the bathroom, Connor following after her with teary eyes.

“Oh god.” William cries, trying to catch his breath as he moves to sit down in his mom’s chair, putting his head in his hands. He feels his dad’s hand on his back and then looks up, grabbing it. “I don’t understand. How did she die?”

Oliver takes a deep breath. “She travelled to 2018 and made a deal with the Monitor. She moved Crisis up and sacrificed her life in order to save mine and Barry’s. I’m so sorry, buddy.”

William shakes his head, sniffing. “No, this doesn’t make any sense. She must’ve failed. I should have a completely different life. I remember Crisis happening in 2024, I remember finding out you and Barry died on the news. I _lived_ it. I remember the evacuation, I wrote my thesis on Crisis in grad school… this doesn’t make any sense.”

William sits there for a while, his dad’s soothing hand over his back as he goes over every option in his head. He shouldn’t remember _Nora._ After a few minutes, Connor comes back, stepping up onto the platform and wiping his eyes. Oliver asks where Mia is and he shakes his head. “She puked so... Nora and her were…”

“Engaged, I know.” Oliver says sadly.

“Connor, go get her. Bring her back in here.” William says and Connor obeys, as Will calls out to the Monitor, though to no avail.

Mia looks terrible when she comes in; totally pale and her face streaked with tears. She hasn’t cleaned Zoe’s blood off either. William jumps in to explain immediately. “Crisis is definitely in 2019. Nora came here and changed the outcome so that Dad and Barry would survive but if that’s the case, we shouldn’t even remember her and we’d have totally different lives. So either we’re some weird anomaly and we’re probably gonna die too, or she’s not really dead.”

John steps in, shaking his head. “No, she’s definitely gone. Iris called me afterwards looking for you.” He gestures to Oliver. “They were… really broken up. I think they were there when it happened.”

“Then, there’s something really wrong.” Connor cuts in, crossing his arms over his chest as Mia just stands to the side, eyes droopy and sniffling. “Will’s right. We should remember entirely different lives. We shouldn’t even know Nora.”

Will’s eyes widen, staring at his sister and he points to her neck, a sad and apprehensive look on his face. “Mia. You’re only wearing one ring.”

Mia panics, reaching down to feel the necklace she’s been wearing since the night Nora gave her the ring back. Before, it had her mom’s ring and the one Nora proposed to her with. Now, it only has Felicity’s. “Oh my god.” Mia whispers, looking down. She pauses a minute, and then says one word. “Novu.”

Despite her call to him, even after she’s done it several times, he doesn’t appear. William huffs, shaking his head and leaning back in the chair. “Great. He’s ignoring us.” He says, sarcastically.

Oliver frowns. “Why would he do that? She made the deal with him to keep the balance of the universe.”

Mia scoffs, crossing her arms, mirroring Connor directly. “Of course she did.”

“Time travel’s tricky.” Connor suggests. “Even if he did answer us, is the version that we know even the one that she made the deal with? I mean, technically we’re in an _alternate_ timeline right now, one that we shouldn’t be able to exist in.”

“We have to go to Star Labs.” William announces and Mia frowns, questioning him. “If there’s anyone in 2019 that’s well-versed in time travel other than the Legends, it’s Team Flash. Plus, they probably know a lot more about whatever Nora did than Dad does.”

Mia shakes her head, mumbling. “I should’ve known she’d try something like this.”

Connor nudges her side, hoping to console her. “Well, we weren’t exactly on speaking terms when she must’ve done it. We couldn’t have stopped her.”  
  


She sighs, tilting her head and nodding. “To be fair, we couldn’t have stopped her even if we _were_ on speaking terms.”

William nods along, pausing a moment. “Mia, will you please clean off that blood? Everytime I look at you, I have a mini panic attack.”

She rolls her eyes at him, though raises a hand and starts walking back to the bathroom. Will huffs and Connor walks over to him, pulling up a chair directly beside his. He leans over, swinging an arm around his shoulder in a brotherly manner. “You alright?”

William shakes his head. “No. Although, it makes sense. She didn’t have anything left.”

“You guys were close with Barry’s kid?” Thea asks, standing near Oliver, who adds, “You said you weren’t on speaking terms.”

“Iris put a chip inside Nora to take away her powers and we all knew about it. When she found out… it was too late for us to take it back. We haven’t seen her since.” William explains, leaning into Connor a bit, the two of them comforting each other.

“We were worried for a while. It was like she fell completely off the grid, but we just figured she didn’t want to talk to us. I guess she was planning for whatever she did here.” Connor adds, before getting lost in thought. “I just don’t understand why the Monitor isn’t answering. He always shows up when you call.”

Will shrugs, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I mean, if Nora moved Crisis up then I guess there’s a lot for him to do. Shit he has to get in order.”

“Or he’s just being a dick.” Mia suggests, stepping up onto the platform, having returned from the toilets. Her neck and face are cleaned, as well as her hands but she has no clothes to change into, so she’s left in the shirt she wore under her jacket, stained with a little blood on the right side of it. Connor glances at her and then immediately takes off his black bomber, throwing it her way. She pulls it on quickly and wraps herself up in it gratefully, before asking, “We ready to go?”

“Actually, you guys, I’m going to stay here.” Connor says, receiving a concerned look from the two of them. “I just need to be alone with… everything.” _Nora. Zoe. Too many losses for one day_ , he doesn’t have to say.

William claps him on the back and gets up, motioning his hands for everyone to get moving. “Alright, let’s go.”

When they arrive at Star Labs, it’s fairly empty aside from Frost sketching in the Cortex, leaning back in one of the chairs by the computer setup. She frowns when she notices them walk in, confused. She raises one finger and then her white hair fades away, her icy blue eyes turning back to Caitlin’s brown. She smiles when she’s fully present, a little surprised to see them. “Oh my god. Oliver!” She gets up and greets him with a hug, which he gratefully returns.

“Hey. Sorry for just showing up like this, I know I’ve been MIA…” He starts and she shakes her head, brushing it off.

“Yeah, no kidding. We were all worried about you. Is Felicity okay?” She asks, genuinely concerned.

He nods. “She’s good. She’s at home.”  
  


“And the baby?” Caitlin smirks, crossing her arms. Oliver gives her a surprised look, obviously wondering how she knew. “Nora told us a few things. Trust me, if we didn’t know you and Felicity went off to raise your kid, Barry would’ve sped all over the country trying to find you two.”

Oliver smiles, letting out a little laugh before answering. “Mia’s good. She’s also…” He trails off, making a weird gesture to the Mia beside him.

Caitlin seems to understand what he means almost immediately. “Well, I guess that explains why you’re here. Is this a whole team thing?”

Oliver tilts his head, nodding. “I think that’d be best.”

Caitlin smiles warmly. “I’ll call them. You guys can go wait in the lounge.”

She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her phone as Will and Mia leave the Cortex, though Oliver sticks back for a second. “Hey, I was sorry to hear about your dad, by the way.”

Caitlin nods. “Thank you.” She says softly.

When he gets to the lounge, Will’s lying down with his eyes closed and Mia’s just sitting beside him, elbows resting on her knees, looking totally drained. “Are you two okay?” He asks. “I know things have moved pretty fast since you got here.”

“Okay isn’t the word I’d use.” Mia mutters, not looking at him.

He nods, sitting down on the sofa opposite her. “Nora told me when she was here that the two of you were engaged. I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sorry for both of you.”

Mia shakes her head, still avoiding his gaze as she picks at her fingers. “We weren’t engaged anymore.”

“She was still family.” Will cuts in, giving Mia a look before he goes soft, staring at the ceiling. “I can’t believe she’s really gone.”

“I can.” Mia says, looking at her brother. “We knew her better than anyone. It’s just like her.”

Will nods in agreement just as Barry, Iris and Caitlin enter the lounge, looking at them confused. “Ollie?” Barry says, and the man shoots up, honestly looking sort of nervous.

“Hey, guys. Sorry for not calling first, it’s sort of complicated.” Oliver says, Barry raising his eyebrows in response, hand in Iris’. Mia shifts, standing and Will positions himself so that he doesn’t look totally bored. “So, as you can see, there’s been a new development.”

Mia steps forward, giving them a small and somewhat awkward wave as she says, “Hi, Aunt Iris. Good to see you.”

Iris doesn’t seem too surprised at the statement, instead smiling in a warm and motherly way. “Hi, Mia. We were wondering when you were going to show up.”

That gets Will’s attention and he sits up completely, twisting his head around, his eyebrows furrowed. “Wait… you guys knew we were coming?”

Cisco strides in, stepping up into the lounge with a smirk on his face. “Are you kidding? We’ve been waiting for you since the day Nora arrived. Someone’s gotta make sure you don’t mess up the timeline.”

Mia squints, wringing her hands together. “Actually, that’s why we’re here. Dad told us that Nora moved up Crisis to this year, but we don’t remember it that way. We remember Crisis happening in 2024 and…” Mia gestures to Barry and then to her father, “you two dying.”

Caitlin frowns, humming. “Well, that’s not good. Do you mind if I run some quick tests?”

Will gets up from his spot, sighing out, “Please do.” as Caitlin motions for the two kids to follow her and Cisco out.

She places a hand on Mia’s back and asks, “Do you want a t-shirt? You’ve got a little, uh…” She points to the blood on her shirt and Mia nods, muttering out her thanks.

When everyone else is gone and it’s just Oliver, Barry and Iris in the room, Oliver pulls Iris into a hug as a greeting, clapping Barry on the shoulder. “Hey, I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you two. I really wish I had been. There was this threat called the Ninth Circle. It’s a long story but, it was personal, so we had to protect Mia.”

“It’s okay.” Iris reassures. “How _are_ Felicity and the baby?”

Oliver smiles. “Good. Really good. We changed our numbers, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be getting a call from her tonight. With everything going on, the Ninth Circle’s kind of the least of our worries, so I don’t think either one of us is too worried about staying in hiding right now.”

Iris hums. “Yeah, Nora told us a little bit about what you and Felicity had to do in her timeline. We understand. I have to say though, I am very excited to talk to your wife about motherhood.” They all laugh and Oliver nods.

“There’s another thing you have in common.” Oliver agrees, smiling as Iris declares that she’s going to go talk to Mia.

“Well, I’m gonna go see Mia. I kind of feel like I know her already.” She says, squeezing Barry’s arm and then leaving the two men to talk. 

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Barry smiles, before correcting himself. “I mean, I knew you were but it’s still nice to see you.”

Oliver smiles, something he seems to be doing a lot today, and nods. “You too. John told me a few things… He said you two were there when it happened?”

Barry nods, looking to the floor, eyes all serious and damaged, a look Oliver rarely sees on his friend. “Yeah, um… she told us about it a few weeks before she…” He can’t even say the word, so he just shakes his head to clear the thought and continues on. “We knew when it was gonna happen, so we were both there. We’re still devastated, but I think it helped to _know_. So that we could appreciate the time she had left, I guess.”

Oliver looks down for a second, eyes sympathetic. “I’m so sorry. For not telling you, _and_ for not being able to stop her.”

  
“No, Ollie…” Barry shakes his head, taking in a sharp breath. “ _I_ couldn’t even stop her, and I tried just about everything under the sun. I’m not angry with you. I just really miss her.”

Oliver nods, pulling him in for a brotherly hug and once they pull away, the both start making their way to the Speed Lab, where Caitlin will be running her tests, Barry speaking first. “So, what are you doing out of hiding? Did Will and Mia show up at the cabin?”

“No. The Monitor did a few weeks ago. He told me to get my team together.”

Barry scoffs, smiling. “Yeah, he showed up here in August and told us to start training. Is Team Arrow back together?”

Oliver lets out a breath that tells Barry he doesn’t know the half of it. “Well, so far we’ve got Dinah, René, Dig, Lyla and Thea. John’s searching for Roy right now, but he’s hard to track and I’ve yet to ask Curtis to fight. I still have to call Sara and see if the Monitor asked the Legends to be involved.”

“Last time I talked to Wally, he said they’d fight with us. I talked to Kara a few weeks ago, the Monitor asked her to fight as well.” Barry clarifies as they approach the Speed Lab.

“Well, that’s a bigger team than I thought we had.” Oliver mumbles as Barry calls out to Caitlin, asking if she’s found anything.

Caitlin spins around in her chair, taking off her blue latex gloves as Will and Mia sit side by side on the stairs, Iris glancing over Cisco’s shoulders at the computer screen. “Physically, they’re both fine. I didn’t expect to find anything abnormal, but I thought I’d check anyway.” Caitlin informs, pointing to Cisco for him to take over.

“But, we have been throwing some loose ideas around as to why their memories are that of an alternate timeline.” He finishes, leaning against the table. “I think the most probable option is that they were supposed to be erased when the timeline changes set in, but for some reason, they weren’t.”

Barry nods, crossing his arms and swaying slightly. “Alright, well why do we think that is?”

“I think it’s gotta have something to do with the Monitor.” Iris chimes in, thinking for a moment before continuing. “We know that other versions of you asked him to protect them, right? So, maybe he’s stopping the changes from affecting them and allowing them to live in a timeline that shouldn’t exist.”

Barry agrees, cogs turning in his head. “Right, so the version of Mia that’s with Felicity right now and the version of her that’s here are technically two different beings that the Monitor’s allowed to exist in the same pocket of space. I mean, in order to do that he’d have to create a false version of reality by preserving the old timeline so that would mean that they now exist outside of space-time.”

“Is that even possible?” Will asks from his spot on the stairs, as Mia just stays silent, not understanding much of what everyone’s saying. She did grow up with Felicity, but the laws of space-time are something neither of them are very well-versed in.

“It could be.” Caitlin clarifies. “But even with the protection oath he took, would he really go that far?”

Cisco, who’s pretty much remained lost in thought for the majority of this conversation, finally speaks. “Wait, do we know what date Nora came into the past?”

Barry turns to Mia and Will. “It was the same day Lia died, we saw it in her memories.”

Mia looks a little thrown for a loop that he knows about that, but answers anyway. “That was December 4th, 2048.”

“And what was the date you guys came here?” Cisco asks.

“February 20th, 2049.” Mia answers again and Cisco sighs, biting his lip.

“No, that doesn’t work.” He hums. “I was going to see if maybe there was a brief passing period between him sending you to the past and then telling Mia, but it’s done out of order.”

Caitlin points at him. “No, wait. You could be right.” He looks at her confused as she starts to explain. “The Monitor exists outside of space-time, so technically he could’ve sent Mia and Will to the past before he told Nora to go, in that order. Which means that they arrived in the past _before_ Nora made any changes.”

“Right!” Iris snaps her fingers. “So, the changes just haven’t hit them yet. When they go back to the future, that’s when their memories will change.”

William smiles, grateful that Nora’s hard work still went towards something and wasn’t just a waste of time, since they still remember the timeline she changed. “Okay! So, the versions of us that exist now have already changed?”

“Yep!” Cisco says loudly, popping the ‘p’. “That’s the crazy thing about time travel; no one ever knows exactly what’s happened.”

“Then why are we even here?” Mia asks, arms crossed over the Star Labs shirt she now has on. “The Monitor’s ignoring us. He sent us here to get to know Dad but if going back to the future will change our memories so that we grew up with him, what are we still doing here?”

Everyone’s silent for a second, before Barry mumbles, “Manpower.” getting him confused looks from everyone else before he clarifies. “That was part of her deal. More people to fight in Crisis.”

Mia lets a small smile creep up on her face as she says happily, “She wanted us here.” It’s a small thing, but Nora thinking about her and _choosing_ her to fight in the event that’s literally changed everything makes her heart soar. “It makes sense. It’s not like she could be here to fight, but we’re from the future. We studied Crisis in school. We’ve got a lot more knowledge than you guys do.”

William snorts. “Thank god we brought Connor.” Mia lets out a breathy laugh.

“This is actually happening.” Barry says softly, in realization. “Crisis is in less than two months.”

William nudges Mia. “You and Connor better start training.”

Cisco grins, folding his arms over himself as he stands up, looking directly at Mia. “Do you guys have suits?” Mia shakes her head and his smile gets even wider. “You will.” He says cryptically.

“Actually, my suit could probably use some modifications.” Oliver starts, as Cisco raises a finger to silence him.

“Walk with me, friend.” He says, leading Oliver out of the Speed Lab and presumably to his workshop, as Will thanks the remaining members of Team Flash.

“Don’t worry about it.” Barry says, as he and Iris move to sit down on the stairs below them. “You know, it’s rare that we get to spend time with anyone who may know something about Nora that we don’t.”

Mia hums, smiling a little to herself as she plays with her fingers. “She was… fearless. And level-headed. And she could make anyone believe there was good in the world.”

“Well, we knew that.” Iris jokes, before turning serious. “Listen, I need to apologize to you two for the other me. I never should’ve…”

Mia shakes her head. “It’s okay, Aunt Iris. We made our own choices. I could have told her a hundred times and I chose not to. That’s on me.”

“If it makes you guys feel any better, Nora changed a lot while she was here. Towards the end of her time, she wasn’t angry anymore.” Barry consoles and Will nods happily.

“That does help. Thank you.”

\--

When the Queens return to Star City, Connor and Dig are eating Big Belly and they quickly explain the jist of what was said before deciding that it’s late and they’re all pretty exhausted from not only this day, but the one they just lived in their erased future. Will, Connor and Mia have a little silent conversation about Connor being much less awkward with his dad and then Oliver’s taking his kids home, back to the apartment he and Felicity once shared. 

“This place looks just like it did when I was fourteen. Which I guess makes sense, because I technically still am.” Will says when they’re walking in, his eyes wide with wonder and nostalgia.

Oliver huffs, dropping the keys down on the counter. “Sorry about the boxes, Felicity and I left in a hurry. You guys hungry?”

Will’s eyes light up as he plops himself down at the island, the stool he always chose when he was a kid. “Oh, can we have Monte Cristos? I haven’t had those in forever!”

Mia sits beside him cautiously, feeling a little like a stranger in the home that was supposed to be hers as Oliver frowns, reaching into the fridge. “Felicity didn’t make you them?”

Both kids tense and William clears his throat before he explains. “Actually, I was raised without Felicity. After I left you guys to live with my grandparents, I never saw you again.” Oliver’s clearly surprised as he stops in his tracks in front of the stove. William continues. “I only found out when I was an adult that it was my grandparents that kept me from you. I thought you abandoned me and you thought I didn’t want to see you.”

“I’m sorry, buddy.” His dad says sadly, starting to prepare the food.

  
“It’s okay.” Will says sincerely. “Different timeline, remember?”

That doesn’t really make Oliver feel any better.

\--

Even when the deathstrokes start up again, the future kids keep themselves far away from it, despite there not being much of the timeline left to screw up. They spend their days training and trying not to have any super dark conversations about their tragic future with the members of Team Arrow. Mia and Connor are constantly sparring while Will has the bright idea to use ARCHER to see if he can transform it into an AI that sort of works like Jarvis, similar to something he’d been working on in the future. Oliver’s head literally spins when Mia asks what Jarvis is and William refers to the Iron Man movies as ‘really old movies from when he was a kid’. 

Oliver enjoys spending the time with his kids, even though he knows that when he’s around for them being this age, they’ll be totally different from what they’re like now. He trains with Mia and Connor, genuinely impressed with their skills and spends hours bonding with his son, though not over tech - that’s never been his wheelhouse. Connor and Dig seem to be growing closer too, especially when Lyla arrives back from her ARGUS mission and despite the need for preparations, Oliver doesn’t mind letting them have a little break to just _be_.

John finds Roy and Thea offers herself up to go get him, which surprises just about everyone in the room, though no one argues. When she returns with him, Oliver’s feeling more and more confident about the team they’ve assembled, especially when his kids tell him that in their timeline, they had nowhere near as many heroes. They have a pretty full team, plus the addition of the future kids - though Oliver can’t say he loves the idea of them fighting a fucking _Crisis_ \- and their training is going well, especially with the knowledge of Crisis that the kids divulge.

They’re three weeks out from Crisis, and as Will’s typing away on Felicity’s computer and Connor, Mia, Roy and Thea are sparring, Oliver signals his kids over to him while he stands on the platform. Will spins around in his chair and Mia jogs up, drinking from her water bottle as she raises her eyebrows, motioning for him to speak. “I sort of have a surprise for you guys.”

They both seem confused and he tells them to just wait a minute, and so they stand there in silence for a while, Mia sipping her drink and William looking bored out of his mind, until the elevator dings and reveals their mom, a hesitant smile on her face. “Mom!” He says, getting up from his chair as he and his sister run over to her, hugging her without much warning.

“Hi!” Felicity says tearily, hugging them back tightly. “Oh, it’s so weird but it’s so good.” Both kids laugh, squeezing her before pulling away. She reaches her hands up to cup William’s cheeks. “Oh my god. It’s the same face. I mean, I know it is because you’re William. and it _has_ changed but it’s still _your_ face.” He chuckles, going soft at the tears in her eyes before she turns to Mia.

“And you!” She says, both hands on the tops of Mia’s arms. “A few hours ago, you threw up on me.”

Mia literally _giggles_. “Well, I won’t do that this time.”

Felicity laughs and then her eyes glance over to her husband. She rubs her hands over her kids one last time, tells them to give her a second and then makes her way over to him. “Hi, honey.” She says, wrapping her arms around his neck as he buries his face in her neck, smiling happily.

He’d called her on the first night to let her know of the kids’ arrival, though they’d both agreed she had to stay at home with Mia, at least for a little while until Dinah followed down the last lead on the Ninth Circle, to be certain they were really gone. 

“Wait, Mom. What are you doing here? And who’s taking care of me?” Mia asks, as William laughs, arms crossed.

“Relax, Mia. It’s not like you can die. You don’t exist.” All she does is hit him as Felicity pulls away from Oliver, leaving a hand on his arm as she turns to their kids.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe at home with Nyssa.” Felicity smiles warmly, still taking in the sight of her beautiful grown up children. “Your father called me. I can’t stay for Crisis, obviously but I wanted to see you two beforehand.” She turns to Will. “Plus, I hear you’re working on some tech. Interested in making it a mother-son project?”

He grins, nodding enthusiastically. “You are just what I need, actually.”

Felicity matches his grin, tilting her head to the side so it leans on the top of Oliver’s bicep. Thea and Roy, both looking a little tense, make their way over, Thea smiling and immediately pulling her sister-in-law into a hug. “Hey. I missed you.” She mumbles, Felicity squeezing her tight.

“Missed you, too. Both of you.” She gives Roy a pointed look before they hug, too. 

“How long are you staying?” Thea asks, a little out of breath from sparring.

“A day or so. I don’t want to cut it too close.” She starts to say, though before she can get anything else out, the elevators are dinging open and Curtis is running out, an excited look on his face. “Hi, Curtis.”

Curtis takes the steps up two at a time and then squeezes her in his arms. “Hi, best friend. Oh my god, I really did not think I’d see you again this soon. I’ve missed you.”

William smiles at the scene, patting his sister on the arm as they start to walk away. “Everyone has some catching up to do. Let’s find Connor.”

They find him cleaning up in the bathroom, running a wet towel over his face, which he chucks on the counter when they arrive, leaning against the sink. “I gotta say, seeing Felicity so young might be even weirder than my dad. Probably because she’s gone in our time.”

Mia hums as William suggests they go get food for everyone, hoping to give his parents some time to reunite. Mia doesn’t really remember how much they loved each other, so William feels like it’s his responsibility to give them time together, even if it takes away a little bit of time with them. They hear the elevator ding once again, assuming it’s probably another member of Team Arrow, and head back into the main area, only to be met with future Zoe standing in front of the group with her arms raised in surrender. Mia wastes no time, shouting out her name and then running over, tackling her friend in an embrace as Connor and Will follow suit, soon all wrapped in a group hug.

The rest of the team, who at first seemed prepared for danger, all loosen up, though they’re clearly confused. Oliver grabs Felicity’s hand tightly, eyebrows furrowing. “Wait, this is Zoe?”

Dig, who’d just returned through the back door, fishes out his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call René.”

When the kids are pulled out of their group hug, Zoe asks what’s going on, earning her a ridiculous look from her three friends. “What’s going on?” Mia says incredulously. “What’s going on is you’re supposed to be dead, Zo. We watched you die.”

Zoe nods, letting out a breath. “It was the Monitor. He saved me. This girl brought me here, she said it was where you were. She asked me to fight in the Crisis, but honestly I was a little woozy when I agreed.”

William’s eyes widen as he asks quietly, “What girl?”

“I don’t know. She said she was Barrry’s kid… do we know a Barry?” Zoe says as both Connor and Will let out a breath. 

Connor looks to him, pointing. “That’s proof right?”

“Proof of what?” Felicity asks, though neither of them look at her, Mia just hugging Zoe again as Will responds.

“We left at the exact moment Zoe died, which is the moment of the timeline change, so Zoe not remembering her confirms that Nora succeeded.” William says, smiling as he turns to his father. “You’re not going to die, Dad.”

Oliver’s eyes slip shut as he nods, pulling Felicity closer to him. Thea crosses her arms, frowning. “Did we not know that before?”

Connor lets out a relieved laugh. “Well, we knew Nora died but that didn’t mean that the deal went through. Now we have proof the timeline changed.”

“I can’t believe I was dead.” Zoe says, hand hovering over the spot where her wound was.

Oliver scoffs a little. “Yeah, neither can we.” He looks at his kids. “You didn’t mention that.”

William nods, shrugging. “Well, we don’t technically exist, so it doesn’t matter anyway.”

Roy laughs out loud, shaking his head. “You can’t keep using that excuse, dude.”

There’s a bright purple light through the room and then Jonathan Kent is standing in front of them, the lightning disappearing and then returning a few seconds later and Nora appears beside him. Mia steps forward, eyes wide as she whispers, “Oh my god.”

“Well, you all look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Nora says, all too happily for the irony of that statement.

Connor points at her, frowning. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but please tell me you’re dead.”

She smiles, nodding. “Yeah, I am. Or… I will be. I’m from earlier this year. I’m already dead to you guys.” Everyone lets out a collective breath of relief and Jonathan steps forward, hugging Connor and patting William on the side - the only two out of the group he’s met before. “Well, don’t look too happy about it.”

Mia chuckles before she can stop herself, still staring at her ex. Nora smiles at her warmly, a large contrast from the look she was given the last time they were together and Nora continues. “Well, I can’t stay long. I’m just sort of getting my affairs in order. Speaking of…” She raises a finger and then there’s a flash, and she’s got a notebook in her hands, which she gives to Mia. “This is everything I know about Crisis. You’ll want to keep the fighting to one Earth. I suggest Earth-38, it’s the farthest outside of the multiverse, but when you’re evacuating, send everyone to Earth-1 and Earth-50, they’re the last earths that’ll be hit.”

William nods profusely, eyes darting around. “I gotta write this down.” He says, though Curtis snaps his fingers so they look at him, who’s already scribbling onto a scrap piece of paper.

Nora smiles, pointing to the notebook. “Don’t worry. It’s all in there. Also,” She reaches into her pocket and fishes out an ovular case, tossing it to Will, who fumbles to catch it correctly. “I stole that from WayneTech. It’ll help with the prototype you’re working on.”

William flips it over in his hands, a delighted expression on his face. “How did you know I was going to finish it?”

Nora just smiles. “I know you pretty well.” The book starts glowing a little, looking as if it’s glitching and Nora gets a look on her face like that’s bad as she points at them. “It’s all on you guys now. You better win this.”

“We will.” Mia says confidently, the two of them communicating in an unspoken way.

Nora shakes her head. “If I see you guys again, it’ll be a different world.” She takes one step forward and hugs Mia, waving her hands so that Connor and William join, Zoe staying in place. When they pull away, René rushes in, stopping a few inches from Zoe, astonished at the sight of her until she smiles, hugging him.

The notebook flickers again in Curtis’ hands and Nora notices, pulling away and nodding at her friends once. “Time to go save the world.” She steps away, eyes flickering with electricity before she stops it, looking to Oliver once more. “Mr. Queen? If you see my dad, tell him I love him. And that he’s ready.”

Oliver smiles, nodding as the young Allen waves to them, eyes flickering once again and then there’s a streak of purple lighting along with a gust of wind. Mia lets out a shaky breath, Will and Connor rubbing her shoulders in comfort as Zoe leans into her dad’s side and asks, “I’m confused. Why don’t I know her, but you guys do?”

“Unfortunately, that’s a story we don’t have time for right now. We’ve got two days until Crisis. We need a game plan.” Will tells the group, brows furrowed in concentration.

“Okay, so tell me what to do.” Zoe says simply, pulling away from her dad and stepping forward like a soldier ready for war.

Connor jumps into action, stepping up onto the platform stairs so everyone pays attention. He points to Will first. “You need to finish as many of those prototypes as you can. Johnny and I will memorize everything that’s in the book. Zoe, Mia - we’re gonna need you on standby for whatever we figure out from Nora’s notes. There might be something we can do to prepare. Other than that, we need to send someone to Kara, tell her Jonathan’s here and-”

“And warn her about Argo.” Curtis says, nose buried in the notebook. He looks up when everyone goes silent, clearly confused, and pushes his glasses up. “I just started reading this. The first planet to go is Argo City. They deserve a warning.”

“Tell Aunt Kara to get pods to Argo as fast as she can. They have very few. Only three of us escaped in the original timeline.” Johnny says, arms crossed as he stands beside Will.

John turns around, pointing. “Let me just play catch up here. Who are you?”

Jonathan chuckles sheepishly. “My parents are Lois and Clark. Sorry, I should've introduced myself. I’m Jonathan.”

The rest of the team just sort of nods and turns back to Connor who lets out a breath, hands on his hips. Felicity speaks up, raising a hand like an elementary student. “If you get me an extrapolator, I can go see Kara. No offence, but if someone she doesn’t know shows up there, there will probably be a couple of guns in your faces.”

“I have one.” Connor says, pulling what looks like a pen out of his pocket and handing it to her. “Just click the top of it and think about Earth-38.”

Felicity takes it, analyzing it for a moment before kissing her husband’s cheek and turning to her kids. “I’ll be back soon. Promise.”

William and Mia nod, William adding, “Remember. If they evacuate Argo now, there’s no point in sending them to Earth-38. They’re next in the anti-matter wave. Make sure they evacuate to Earth-1. It’ll be the last to go.”

“Easy peasy.” Felicity shrugs, clicking the pen as a blue breach appears in front of her. She steps inside and then it’s gone in an instant, leaving the rest of them to continue on with their tasks, Curtis helping Will with his prototypes, Zoe and Mia sticking by Connor and Jonathan who start reading the book, the rest of team Arrow pretty much moving onto training.

“So, what is it that you’re working on?” Curtis asks, pulling up a spinny chair to sit beside William, who picks up an ovular case and shows it to him.

“These are my unfinished version of tech contacts. I’m gonna calibrate them to each superhero’s individual abilities to help them in the field. Nora brought me something similar from WayneTech that should help me finish it off.” He says, looking up to wear his dad is sparring with John and his sister leaning over Connor’s shoulder. “In fact… Dad! Catch!”

He chucks one of the cases marked with an arrow symbol on top of it towards his father, who catches it with ease and frowns in confusion. “Take it for a test drive!” William shouts before throwing the one marked with the BlackStar symbol towards Mia. “You, too. Try and kick his ass.”

Mia leans towards the monitors and uses her reflection to put the contacts in, her father following suit once he sees her do it. As soon as they’re in, both heroes look around, getting used to the feeling. Will nudges Curtis and points to the tablet in front of them, screen split down the middle as they can see exactly what both heroes see. “Oh my god.” Oliver mumbles, pointing to the armory and speaking louder so everyone can hear, the other team members having stopped what they’re doing to watch. “It’s like I’m looking at an x-ray. This just counted all of our weapons.”

William grins, proud of his work and tells his dad, “Yours is called Jonas.”

“Jonas?” Oliver says, only to be met with a voice only he can hear.

_Hello, Green Arrow._

What Oliver doesn’t notice is William signalling to John and Thea to sneak attack him, the both of them creeping up slowly and carefully. Mia holds in a laugh, making her way over to the tech support and asking what hers is named. Dorothea, like her middle name.

_Green Arrow._ Jonas says, just as Thea and John are in range. _Two hostiles behind you._

Oliver spins around quickly, taking on both of his team members and bringing them to the ground with ease, Jonas telling him exactly where their weak spots are. Of course, Oliver makes sure not to hit them too hard as they’re not the real enemy, but he does get a rush knowing Jonas was able to analyze them and help him take them down. “William, this is amazing.” He says, as he helps John and Thea up.

“Yeah, I don’t understand how this isn’t finished yet.” Mia says, smiling wide. “It’s perfect.”

“Well, yours are mostly done.” William admits, still grinning widely from the compliments. “Now, you two. It’s your turn to fight.”

Mia and Oliver exchange a glance before they’re charging after each other, matching shot for shot and moving all around the bunker, avoiding hitting anyone else. William smiles and then turns back to the screen, talking quietly with Curtis. “Like I said, theirs are mostly done. I need you to help finish off Connor and Zoe’s. Deal?”

Curtis nods a little too excitedly, scooting closer. 

Connor and Jonathan get started on a list of ‘Absolutely-Need-To-Knows’, writing down the list of Paragons, only stopping when they get to the Paragon of Humanity. “Mia, Zoe.” He calls them over. “It says that Felicity found Ryan Choi on Earth-1 in Ivytown. He’s the Paragon of Humanity. We’re gonna need him when Harbinger turns.”

“You want us to bring him here now?” Zoe asks, leaning against the desk.

“No.” Connor shakes his head. “I have another mission for you. We’ll bring Ryan Choi here the day before Crisis so we’re not running around searching for paragons.”

“Okay, then who’s going to warn Ryan? I doubt he’ll drop everything the second we need him?” Mia asks, taking out her contacts and placing them securely in the case, which she shoves in her jacket pocket.

“I was hoping Iris. She’s sort of got a knack for inspiring people, helping them see the bigger picture.” Connor says, taking a deep breath. “As for you two, you need to get in contact with John Constantine. He can bring you to purgatory and from there, you’ll be able to find Jim Corrigan. He’s the Spectre.”

Mia gives a quick glance over to her father, sparring with John and lowers her voice as she speaks to Connor. “I don’t understand. You’re not telling me that we have to make my dad the Spectre again, right?”

“That’s exactly what we’re saying.” Jonathan tells her, only to be met with a shake of Mia’s head. “Listen, you don’t _have_ to die to be the Spectre. You also don't have to exist outside of space-time. The Monitor was already dead when your dad became the Spectre, but he’s not right now. If you find Jim Corrigan, he can give you his powers in a physical form which you’ll then bring to the Monitor, who’ll make it so your father is able to stay alive whilst being the Spectre.”

“You’ll have to go to Central beforehand to get Iris. Drop her off in Ivytown, then get to Constantine.” Connor clarifies, handing Zoe an extrapolator. “You’ll likely find him with the Legends.”

Zoe and Mia exchange a glance, having a silent conversation before turning back to the boys, Zoe saying, “Fine. Not like we can do anything else until Crisis hits, right?”

“Indeed.” Jonathan says, waving his hands to tell them to get going. Mia calls out to her dad, tells him they’ll be back and then Zoe presses down on the extrapolator, both of them stepping through a breach moments later. 

They appear in the medbay of Star Labs, Ralph lying asleep on the bed as Barry sits in the chair beside him, Iris’ hand on his shoulder. They’re both clearly startled when the breach opens, though relax a teeny bit when they see Mia. “Oh, this looks like a bad time.” Mia says as she takes in the sight, placing the extrapolator in her pocket again. 

“Mia? And…” Iris starts, alluding to Zoe.

“Oh, this is Zoe. René’s daughter. From the future, obviously.” Mia says, patting her friend’s arm.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Barry asks before he can stop himself.

“Aren’t you?” Zoe retorts, receiving a look from the speedster that says _fair enough_.

Barry stands from his seat, frowning in worry. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

“No. Well…” Mia starts, before looking to Ralph and then signalling to the Cortex. “Mind if we talk about this out here?”

Both of them nod, starting to follow her out as Zoe scoffs. “Oh, yeah. I’ll just stay with the unconscious guy. Do I have to be worried about him stabbing me or something?”

She gets no reply, opting to sit down in the seat Barry was in as the three others stand in a circle in the Cortex, Mia wringing her hands together. “So, before you ask - No, she’s still gone. But, we saw Nora.”

The look on both of their faces is enough to make Mia - who’s most definitely not a hugger - want to hug them so tight it starts to hurt. Barry grabs Iris’ hand tightly, eyes getting glassy very quickly as he stares at Mia in what looks like disbelief. “You saw her? How?”

“She came to see us. Apparently, it was before she died.” She whispers that last word, unable to say it out loud and takes a breath before continuing on. “She told us a few things that she thought we might want to know about Crisis. Which is why I’m here, actually. I was hoping you could help us, Iris.”

“Me?” She says, clearly a little surprised.

Mia nods. “Yeah. My mom’s with Kara, figuring stuff out over there. The team’s all back at the bunker doing their own tasks. Zoe and I are about to head out to do something with the Legends, and you are kind of the perfect person to convince someone to leave their family behind and save the world. You were always great at hope speeches, when I come from.”

Iris looks up at her husband who nods immediately, whispering, “You should do it. We’ll be fine here.”

“Great.” Mia says, smiling slightly awkwardly. “His name is Ryan Choi. He’s supposed to be our Paragon of Humanity. We won’t be able to stop Crisis without him. He’s a Professor at Ivytown University, you should find him there.”

Iris nods, squeezing Barry’s arm before she leaves, saying, “I’m gonna go get an extrapolator.”

“Mr. Allen?” Mia says once she’s gone. “Before Nora left, she told us that if we were to see you, she wanted you to know she loves you. And that you’re ready, for whatever comes.”

He lets out a shaky breath, blinking as he smiles. “God, that kid always knew what to say.”

Mia nods in agreement. “Will always used to say that was her real superpower.”

\--

  
  


When Felicity returns to the bunker and informs them that Kara’s sent a signal to her cousin and mother in Argo City, she immediately gets to work on the contacts with William and Curtis, finishing off the last few meant for Connor, Zoe, Sara, and the rest of Team Arrow. Connor succeeds in making a timeline map as Jonathan helps the rest of the team train, figuring that an alien will be closer to what they’re up against. 

“Mom? Can you do me a favour?” William asks when it’s just the two of them at the work station.

“Sure, honey.” She says, still running a few algorithms to make the contacts work better.

“Before you go back to the cabin, can you go to Central City and take me with you? Younger me, I mean.” He says hesitantly, causing her to stop what she’s doing and turn to him, grabbing his hands.

“Well, you know that means I have to leave today instead of tomorrow, right?” She says, raising her eyebrows.

He nods, looking down at their hands. “I know. And I know that this Crisis isn’t going to turn out like the one I experienced but... it’s still scary. I was all alone when it happened, I’d just started school… and I remember wanting to be with _you_ , even at eighteen.”

She smiles softly, nodding as she brings her hands up to cup his face. “Okay.” She whispers. “I’ll bring you home.” She places a kiss on his forehead, not caring that _this_ William is older than her and catches Oliver’s eye, giving him a knowing look. 

When Zoe and Mia return, it’s just in time to say goodbye to Felicity, Mia running over and joining in on her hug with Will, squeezing her mom as tight as she can. “You two better be careful.” Felicity says, one hand touching each of their cheeks. “I mean it. Just because you’re from a different timeline, doesn’t mean you can be reckless here.”

“We know, Mom.” William says, peering over at his sister before turning back to her. “You keep my baby sister safe and I’ll keep my adult-baby sister safe.”

“That translates to me being the one to keep _him_ safe.” Mia clarifies, looking at her brother pointedly. Felicity nods, pulling away from them and turning to look at the rest of the team, having already said her goodbyes to Oliver.

“You guys stay safe, too. I’ll see you soon.” She says, as Laurel, who’d finally made it back to Star City while she was on Earth-38, squeezes her hand. Felicity nods, waving one last time before stepping into the elevator, car keys in hand, a worried look on her face as the door closes.

“How was your trip?” William asks, pulling Mia into his side.

She smiles up at him, glancing at her dad who’s looking at a text he got sent from Iris. “We got what we needed.”  
  


Oliver holds his phone up, getting off the platform to step closer to his kids. “Uh, that was Iris. She says she found Ryan Choi?”

“Thank god.” Connor mutters. “Did he agree?”

“Looks like it.” Oliver frowns. “Though I’m not sure as to what.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Connor says, just as the computers go off. He makes his way over, William leaving Mia’s side and skipping up the steps to check on it as well. “Holy shit.”

William presses a few buttons and then the Central City News Network is displayed on all of the screens, the team surrounding them as the anchor describes a surgence of mind-controlled citizens brought on by a villain called ‘Bloodwork’. Oliver gives Iris a call to ask if they need anything and returns moments later, telling the team that for the most part, they’ve got it handled.

It’s December 9th, meaning Crisis is supposed to start tomorrow and so the team decide to get Big Belly Burger and eat in the bunker, William letting everyone have a test run of their contacts. It takes a bit for them to get the total hang of it but by the time everyone’s done eating, William’s feeling confident that his invention will aid them in the upcoming fight.

The next day, all of the Star City heroes - not including Lyla - gather in Felicity and Oliver’s apartment, sitting in the living room in their suits, frequently glancing towards the big windows. Mostly, they just sit together and talk about whatever they can to pass the time. Oliver knows Barry’s doing the same thing with his team back at Star Labs.

Mia sits close to Connor on the sofa, facing him cross-legged, Zoe and William on the other side of him. Mia grabs Connor’s hand nervously as she hears a rumble of thunder, looking up at him with seriousness in her eyes. “Whatever happens, we stick together. Right?”

He nods once. “Definitely.”

William bouncing his leg is the only sound heard after that, the rest of them sitting in silence as they watch the rain pour harder and harder, until with one loud sound of thunder, lightning strikes the sky, turning it red. “It’s starting.” Oliver mumbles, just as the room is filled with white light and Lyla appears in front of them, wearing her Harbinger outfit.

“Yes, it is. It’s time to go.” She says, waving a hand and then they’re all standing in front of Kara and her team on Earth-38, a little disoriented from the space-time travel. It seems to be only them at the moment and Jonathan steps forward, waving awkwardly.

“Hi, Aunt Kara. I’m Jonathon, from the future.” He says, a little surprised when she pulls him into a hug.  
  
“I’ve been expecting you.” She says as she pulls away, glancing at the rest of them. “I’ve been expecting all of you.” Before she can say much else, there’s another white light, and then another before Clark, Lois and Kate Kane appear. “You’re okay.” Kara breathes out before moving to hug her cousins.

Lois nods, squeezing her back. “Harbinger got us out just in time. We sent Jonathan on a pod, we don’t know where he is.”

Jonathan raises his hand awkwardly, stepping forward. “I’m right here. Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.”

“From the future.” Kara clarifies. “He’s here to help us fight this.”

Both Lois and Clark hesitate for a second before brief smiles flash across their faces as they pull him in for a hug, pretty much ignoring everyone else. Kate steps forward, grabbing Kara’s arm. “Where are we and what just happened?”

“This is Earth-38. If you were brought here with all these other heroes, it’s probably because we need you.” Kara responds.

Kate shakes her head, lips pursed into a frown. “I don’t know them.”  
  


“But you know me.” Kara shrugs. “I would trust everyone in this room with my life, and I’m sure they’d say the same about me. We’re gonna need you.”

Kate hesitates before tugging off her mask and wig, turning around to look at the rest of them. “Well, I guess you should all just call me Kate.”

Oliver snorts, mumbling, “Yeah, yeah. That makes a lot of sense.”

Mia raises her hand to get everyone’s attention, pointing as she goes down the line of introductions. “I’m Mia, that’s William. We’re Oliver’s kids. Connor is Diggle’s kid, and that’s Zoe, René’s kid. We’re from the future, obviously.”

“Okay, let’s all head to the conference room.” Alex says, after taking a deep breath. When they get there, she turns to Harbinger and asks, “What do you know?”

“There’s a wave of anti-matter sweeping across the multiverse.” She says, as everyone sits down.

“I’ve seen it in action.” Oliver says. “It wiped all of Earth-2 out of existence.”

“I brought you to Earth-38 because this universe is a tipping point. You must make your stand here.” Harbinger says, about to say more, though she’s interrupted by William who raises his palm to tell her to stop, taking her place at the front of the room.

“No offence, Lyla, but we already have a plan.” He says, using his tablet to put a few things up on the screen. “First things first, you should know that Earth-1 will be the last world the anti-matter reaches. Everyone we’re able to evacuate from each earth should be sent there.”

Kara shakes her head. “We need a bigger team. Where’s everyone else?”

“Barry and the Legends are doing reconnaissance. I’ll check on them now.” There’s a flash of white light and then Harbinger’s gone.

“In the meantime, when we come from, Lena Luthor created a breach big enough for ships full of refugees to travel through. Someone has to go ask her to do it.” William says, Alex getting up and volunteering, sending her sister one last look before leaving.

J’onn stands and says, “I’ll take Dreamer. We’ll work on evac. Stay in contact.” He says, Brainy throwing him the keys to something, to which he nods and exits the conference room. As he’s leaving, the ground shakes and everyone’s shoved off their chairs, all getting up immediately and running out to look through the windows, seeing a giant building force itself up through the ground and rise high into the sky. 

“New problem.” Oliver says, just as Barry, Ray and Sara appear.

“The tower isn’t a threat.” Barry says, all of them making their way up the stairs.

William nods. “He’s right. No matter what we do, this earth will be destroyed but that tower will delay it until we’re able to evacuate. We just have to protect it from the Anti-Monitor’s army.”

Brainy’s tablet beeps and he moves closer to the Kyrptonians and Lois, telling them that baby Jonathan has ended up in a temporal wormhole that took him to Star City, Earth-16, 2046. Ray and Sara convince Clark he’s needed more here with future Jonathan and Lois leaves with them to go find baby Jonathan. Before she leaves, Sara punches Oliver lightly in the shoulder. “I’ve seen many versions of you, Ollie. Parent-Oliver is a good look on you.”

“I agree.” He smiles, watching as Sara waves to the two kids - who she doesn’t know were supposed to be her godkids before Felicity went into hiding - and then Oliver moves towards Barry. “The fastest man alive shows up late to the Crisis we’ve been expecting for years. Not the best look, Barry.”

Barry just snorts, laughing a little as he shakes his head. “Shut up, Ollie. I was doing recon.”

“Where’s the rest of your team?” Oliver asks, looking around for them.

“I just texted Cisco. He should be bringing Frost and Ralph here any second.” Barry replies, waving as William walks up to them.

“Before he does, presents!” He says, handing his dad the contact case before turning to Barry. “Sorry, man. I couldn’t figure out how to calibrate it to your speed but if Cisco wants to take a look after this, he’s more than welcome.”

Barry just looks at him confused as a breach opens up, Cisco, Frost and Ralph popping through in their suits. “Let’s get this show on the road, yeah?” Ralph says, Oliver just walking away silently, bringing his son with him.

“I’m gonna head back to Earth-1. Stay safe.” William says, clapping his dad on the shoulder before opening his own breach, hopping through it without looking back.

\--

When they reach the site of the quantum tower, the three Kryptonians and Flash head off to stabilize it as everyone else makes their way into the abandoned building next to it, hoping to get a vantage point. It’s not long before the building is filled with shadow demons, Team Arrow and the three members of Team Flash present starting to fight them off, Batwoman once again proving just how badass she is as they all move together in sync, especially once Ray gives her a sweet upgrade. Mia and Connor, having already been prepared, hop on their motorbikes and drag the shadow demons on a chase through the back streets that have already been evacuated, leading them right into walls and each other, killing them.

Kara, Barry and Clark join soon after, all of them moving up the roof to continue holding the Anti-Monitor’s army off, watching over the rooftop to see how many people have been evacuated. By some display of luck, they’re able to get everyone through the breach just in time for the quantum tower to collapse on itself, no longer holding off the wave. The Monitor breaches them away before they can get swept away by the anti-matter, and then they appear in the Earth-1 bunker, Lois, Sara and Brainy there, having found baby Jonathan.

“That’s awful. I hate that.” Adult Jonathan says, letting Connor swing an arm around his shoulders and lead him out of the room so they can sit down. William notices them, patting them on the back as he steps up the stairs.

“Okay, first part done.” He says, hugging his sister close. “What’s next?”

Before they can speak, there’s a white light and they all appear on the waverider - or at least, a version of it. They all gather round, Mar Novu trying to explain what’s next, though he keeps getting interrupted by baby Jonathan, who’s eventually handed off to Earth-74’s Mick, who quiets him instantly. “You have every reason not to lose hope. There are seven beings, all of the purest will, who will help save the multiverse. They are known as Paragons.” He makes the remnants of the Book of Destiny appear, angering Barry who was sure they’d destroyed it. “We must find all seven.”

Mia snorts, extending her hand to Connor who takes a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to her. “Alright, let’s cut the bullshit. Everyone gather round.” She says, stepping forward and reading out the list. “Sara Lance, Paragon of Destiny. Barry Allen, Paragon of Love. Kate Kane, Paragon of Courage. Kara Danvers, Paragon of Hope. J’onn J’onzz, Paragon of Honor. Ryan Choi, Paragon of Humanity. Clark Kent, Paragon of Truth.”

“Wait,” William frowns. “That’s not right. It’s supposed to be Lex Luthor.”

“That was after he stole the book. We still need Earth-96 Clark.” Connor clarifies.

Kara shakes her head, stepping forward. “Hold on. Lex as in, Lex Luthor? He’s dead.”

“No, he’s not.” Connor points to the Monitor. “He brought him back because he’s half-asshole, half-idiot.”

“You resurrected Lex Luthor and yet, you’re telling me that we can’t bring back Argo?” Kara directs towards the god angrily. 

“That’s exactly what he’s telling you. This guy’s always been a dick.” Laurel says, crossing her arms and peering at the screens, gasping. “Woah, guys. Earth-77 is gone.”

William sighs heavily, moving to the front of the room to command their attention. “Guys, we gotta move. Clark, Lois. Mind heading to Earth-96 and convincing their Superman to come help us?”

They both nod as Iris strolls in, announcing, “I’ll help.” before making her way over to Barry and hugging him tightly.

“Great. That buys the rest of us time to evacuate the other earths.” Zoe says, though the Monitor raises a single finger to silence her.

“Actually, Lex Luthor has just stolen the Book of Destiny. He will now breach throughout the multiverse and kill every Superman, including our Paragon if you don’t stop him.”

William groans, rubbing a hand over his face and muttering, “This is why no one in this room likes you.” before clapping his hands together. “Okay, everyone! Half of you, pick an earth, search it for Lex Luthor. The other half, let’s start evac. Brainy, which earth is next on the trajectory?”

“Earth-54.” He responds, staring down at his tablet. “But how are we supposed to evacuate? This earth will soon become too overrun with people.”

“Quarantine procedure.” Connor responds. “Someone contact the President. Tell her to put everyone indoors. Family and friends all in one household, combine resources. That should hold long enough.”

“And if it doesn’t, we’ll use the next farthest earth from the wave.” William says. “Let’s go everyone!”

\--

With most of the team split up, they’re really just waiting for Earth-54 to be evacuated and Clark, Lois and Iris to return with the Clark Kent Paragon for them to get the ball to roll. Luckily, Earth-54 doesn’t take too much time and they get the go ahead from the President for the lockdown, so they get most refugees from both Earth-38 and Earth-54 into any spare houses they can find. Cisco finds the source of the antimatter wave and takes Barry, Frost and Nash there, only returning once both Clark Kent from Earth-96 and Ryan Choi have been breached to the Waverider by Iris, Clark and Lois.

After every earth except seven has been destroyed. Most of which were not evacuated.

Everyone’s gathered in the Waverider, Barry introducing Black Lightning as Oliver asks which earths are left. Sara’s face drops as she checks. “Only Earth-1.”

“This is it.” William whispers to himself as Mia springs into action, telling Barry to get her a glass of water firmly, leaving no room for questions. She takes a green rock out of her jacket pockets and crushes it against the counter, wiping it's remains into the water before giving it to her dad.

“Drink this. Now!” He takes it off of her and chugs the whole thing, as Barry asks them what’s going on. “Harbinger’s coming. This is the end.”

“And as far as we go.” William adds, throwing the book towards Barry, who catches it with ease. Oliver starts coughing, bending over as his eyes start to turn green.

“Oliver Queen. You are now the Spectre.” Mar Novu says.

“The what?” Sara asks, moving towards him to see if he’s okay.

Connor points to the book. “It’s all in there.”

Harbinger appears out of thin air, eyes glowing white as she clenches her fist, a piercing sound ringing throughout the air and driving everyone to their knees except for the Paragons and Oliver, who looks at them all emotionless before breaching himself away without saying a word. “The fate of humanity lies with you now, Pariah.” The Monitor says, before stepping forward to blast Harbinger, who matches his energy with her own.

Harbinger quickly overpowers the Monitor, killing him, taking his power and wiping out Earth-1 as they all rise to their feet. “We’re all that’s left.” Barry whispers in shock.

“Nash!” William says firmly.

Pariah nods, raising his hands as gold illuminated magic exits from them, touching only the Paragons, sending them elsewhere. “Where did you send them?” Harbinger asks.

“Where you can’t touch them.” He spits.

“It’s okay, you guys. This is the way.” William says to whoever’s left, before pulling his sister, Connor and Zoe into a hug, as the red wave sweeps the ship, killing them all.

\--

It’s been three weeks. There is no way out of the Vanishing Point.

Or there would be, if Barry could access the Speed Force, but he can’t.

Lex and Ryan try to use the old tech found in the Vanishing Point to teleport them out of there, but even that doesn’t work. Oliver’s nowhere to be found. Barry’s still not sure what that green eye thing was about, even after speed reading the book Connor left them with. It only leaves instructions to rebuild the multiverse, which none of them have the power to do.

They all try to stop him from searching for the Speed Force again, considering he was gone so long the last time, but he’s out of options. Kara steps in between him and Sara, trying to talk them down and succeeding, right up until Oliver appears behind them. “Where the hell have you been?” Sara asks, hugging him tightly.

“Figuring out what we have to do next. Barry’s right. The Speed Force is our best option.” He says.

“Yeah, but I can’t get there.” Barry sighs, heaving.

“I can give you a boost. Though, there is more than one task that needs to be completed. I will have to rebuild the multiverse from practically nothing.” He says, Ryan handing him the book, which he takes gratefully. “The multiverse has been replaced with it’s antithesis.”

“An antimatter universe.” Kara realizes.

“Yes.” He replies. “A long time ago, Mar Novu attempted to travel to the dawn of time but instead, he opened a breach to the anti-matter universe, creating the Anti-Monitor. I want you to go back in time to stop him.”

“I’ll go.” Kara volunteers, Ryan raising his hand after as Lex agrees to go as well - which Kara clearly does not like.

“Barry. This boost I give you will be dangerous.” Oliver says, stepping closer to him. “Do you trust me?”

Barry stares at him seriously. “Are you Oliver Queen?” He nods, as Barry continues. “Then I trust you with every cell in my body.”

He grabs them all and runs to the Speed Force, waking up in a tuxedo on the ground of the church he and Iris were supposed to get married in. He forces himself up, none of the team in sight and looks around, freezing when he hears a familiar voice say, “Hi, Dad.”

He spins around, almost falling over at the sight of his daughter, hair tied in a braid down her side, wearing the formal outfit he saw her in for the very first time. “Nora.” He whispers, stepping forward to touch her, though his hands go right through.

“I’m sorry. I’m not actually here.” She smiles sweetly. “You’re in the Speed Force. As are your friends. Oliver Queen is using up his energy trying to keep them from falling out.”

“What happens if they fall out?” He frowns.

“They’ll be consumed by anti-matter.” She says calmly. “There are few things more powerful in existence than human connection. That’s why I brought you here. That’s why you’re seeing me. You miss me.”

He sniffs, shaking his head. “You’re not her.”

She hums, as if she knew he’d say that. “Not completely. But she is out there.”

He takes in a shaky, hesitant breath. “Does that mean I could get her back?”

“Possibly.” She replies simply, tilting her head to the side like his Nora used to. “But you won’t get anyone back unless you find Sara, J’onn, Kate and Oliver. Use your memories of them. Things that connect you, bond you. Highest highs, lowest lows.”

He nods, repeating her words back quietly. “Bonds.”

“Your daughter sacrificed everything to save the multiverse but mostly, she did it to save you. She believes in you. She _loves_ you. She is the reason you were made a Paragon - because that love has taken you to places you never could’ve gone without it, and that is what will save you this time around.” She says, her hands starting to disappear along with the rest of her body. “Honor my sacrifice, Dad.”

Then, she’s gone.

\--

He runs across the Speed Force, grabbing all of the Paragons and Oliver, and bringing them to the dawn of time in the antimatter universe, ready to face off against the Anti-Monitor, who tells them that there will always be one Mar Novu who will give into his selfish desire and curiosity. “It’s time.” Oliver says. “This is why you were chosen. You’re all strong enough to hold the line while I rebirth the multiverse.”

He pauses for a second, before grinning at them all. “Any requests?”

“Big Belly Burger on Earth-7.” Sara answers immediately. “Only Earth that doesn’t have it.”

“Lena.” Kara whispers to herself in realization before speaking up. “Can you-”

Oliver cuts her off, smiling. “I know what you’re going to ask. Yes.” He turns to Lex Luthor. “And you. I will give you a chance. If you disappoint me, I will kill you.”

Lex frowns, looking away from him awkwardly as Barry speaks up. “Oliver, if it’s possible... Nora.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He smiles, just as the Anti-Monitor unleashes the shadow demons and they’re thrust into action. The Paragons battle the demons as Oliver fights with the Anti-Monitor, both fights not lasting long.

When the shadow demons are gone, the heroes (and Lex) focus in on where they can see Oliver using his green energy. They focus on their Paragon title, hoping to birth it in the universe. When it’s over, and there’s a big boom, Barry speeds Sara over to Oliver, who’s lying in a ditch, staring up at the sky. They kneel down beside him, careful not to apply too much pressure. “Are you alright?” Barry asks.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” He smiles, though he’s clearly in pain. “Look.”

They follow his gaze up to the sky and gasp, taking in the pink energy waves circling around each other, getting bigger and bigger. “What is it?” Sara asks.

“That’s the new multiverse. We did it.” He smiles, grabbing their hands and squeezing tightly.

They laugh through their tears, staring up in awe, as Sara asks, “What now?”

“Now, we wait for it to take us, too.” Oliver replies, tugging Barry’s hand so he looks down at him. “Hey. You got your wish. April 2023.”

The tears in Barry’s eyes spill out now as he nods frantically, letting out a loud sob. “Thank you. Thank you.” He repeats, Sara leaning in to hug him close, both of them leaning down to include Oliver. As the sky gets brighter, it gets harder to open their eyes and before they know it, they’re gone.

\--

He wakes up in the lounge at Star Labs to Frost standing over him with her arms crossed, looking annoyed. “Are you kidding? We’ve got a situation downtown and you’re _napping_?”

“Oh my god.” He mumbles, jolting up and hugging Frost before she can say anything, though she does push him off. “You’re alive!”

“Uh, yeah.” She says, looking at him like he’s psychotic. “But there are a lot of people at the docks who won’t be if you don’t get a move on.”

He lets out a breath, realizes he should just figure it out later and grabs his suit, heading downtown and cuffing Weather Witch (which is weird, considering she’s supposed to be a good guy now). What’s even weirder is Kara being on his earth, which they quickly find out is both their earths.

He and Kara make their way to Star Labs, only to realize that the only person who hasn’t shown back up is Oliver. “He’ll turn up. He’s not supposed to die. We know that for sure.” Sara reassures everyone, just as Nash rushes in, declaring the fight isn’t over and the Anti-Monitor is still alive. They devise a plan to hold off the shadow demons while the nerds work on an infinite shrinking device.

It’s only after they’ve trapped the Anti-Monitor in the microverse, that Oliver decides to show up.

“Well, looks like you didn’t need me after all. Should I be retiring?” He says, smirking as he appears in front of them. Sara, John and Barry run straight into him, hugging him tight, René joining in soon after.

“Nice of you to show up!” Kara smiles as they all pull away.

Oliver just shrugs nonchalantly. “I had to check on a few things. Nice work, you guys.”

“God, Oliver.” Barry chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief. “What did this Crisis do to you? I’ve never seen you smile this much.”

“You’re gonna be smiling more than I am when you go back to Star Labs.” Oliver says, earning a confused look from Barry. “There were a lot of changes on this earth that are out of my control but I was able to change a few things for the better. You should go home, Barry. Meet us at the bunker when you’re all ready.”

Barry still looks a little confused, but he nods nonetheless, waving to the team. “See you soon, I guess.”

He speeds away, stopping in the hallway when he notices Iris walking to the Cortex. He pulls her into a hug and she says, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

He nods against her. “You remember?”

“Yeah, J’onn restored all of our memories.” She pulls away, still keeping him at arm's length. “It’s weird. We’ve got memories of the old timeline and this one.”

Barry hums, looking her over as if making sure she’s real - she was dead, so you can’t really blame him. “Oh, I only have memories of the old one.”

A small, delighted smile stretches across her face. “Then, there’s people you really need to see.” She says, grabbing his hand and leading him into the Cortex, all of his family in there waiting for him along with Harry, Jesse and - Ronnie?

“Oh my god. Ronnie?” He says, the man grinning at him and opening his arms for a hug.

“Hey, Bear. I was told you’d have this reaction.” Ronnie says, holding him tightly before pulling away and clapping his shoulder.

Barry shakes his head in disbelief, turning to Harry and Jesse. “And you two? You should all be dead.”

“Oliver brought them back.” Caitlin grins, face so light that he can’t remember seeing it like that since her wedding day. “Not just them, Laurel’s back, Tommy’s back. Professor Stein.”

“So is my brother.” Cisco says, swinging an arm around Barry’s shoulders and shaking him. “And John and Lyla’s daughter. They have twins now. John and Sara.”

Barry lets out an astonished laugh, looking around at his friends and family. When his eyes land on Joe, he gets out of Cisco’s embrace and moves to hug his father tightly, smiling when Joe whispers, “My boy.” in a voice that tells Barry he was worried about him. 

“I’m okay.” Barry whispers, pulling away and staring around at the people he loves. “I can’t believe it’s really over.”

Iris’ phone beeps and she pulls it out of her pocket, smiling when she reads the text she was sent. “That’s Felicity. Everyone’s celebrating at the bunker. Are we going?”

They all exchange glances and without even having to say it, they’re walking silently out of the Cortex, Barry and Jesse taking turns flashing everyone to the bunker. When they walk in, the party seems to be in full swing; the Legends pouring drinks, Team Arrow fawning over baby Mia, Team Super mingling with those they never got to see due to being on a different earth - a problem that has now been fixed! Iris grabs Barry’s hand and drags him over to Felicity, who grins widely when she sees them, pulling Iris in for a tight hug. “Hi!”

“Hi!” She smiles, pulling away and kissing Barry’s cheek in greeting. “You guys want to meet your niece?”

Both of their faces light up as she brings them over to where Moira Queen (who is also supposed to be dead) sits with Thea and Roy, Mia in her arms, wide awake. She smiles at them, standing up and handing Mia over to Iris as Felicity says, “Look, honey. It’s Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry.”

Iris' eyes go soft as she coos, “Aunt Iris? Aw, I’m Aunt Iris.” Barry reaches a hand out to brush a finger over her little cheek and smiles down at her, looking to Felicity after he notices fourteen-year-old William with Lyla and Brainy.

“Hey, does he remember anything? About how things were before?” He asks and Felicity shakes her head.

“No, Oliver thought it’d be easier if he just remembered the new timeline. That way, he remembers being with us and never going to live with his grandparents. It’s just simpler that way.” She responds, looking over at her son wistfully. 

“Yeah, I get it.” Barry says, rubbing her arm happily, as Oliver makes their way over to them.

He coos down at his daughter and then smiles at the two of them. “Can I have a minute with you guys?”

They both nod as Iris reluctantly gives back Mia, Felicity leaving the three of them to go chat with Kara, who’s been dying to get Mia back in her arms since she got out of them. “So, I had to go to the future to make sure I’d set everything right and while I was there, I figured I’d bring you back a souvenir.” Oliver says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photo he must’ve stolen, of what appears to be Nora in a cap and gown, Barry and Iris on either side of her, Mia and another girl in the background of the photo. “I took it from your fridge. This is her high school graduation.”

Iris brings a shaking hand up to cover her mouth as she stares at the photo, Barry smiling gratefully before pulling Oliver in. “Thanks, man. Truly.”

“It was the least I could do, Barry. Your daughter saved my life. And the multiverse.” He says, handing Iris the photo and squeezing her shoulder. “Now, please… enjoy yourselves. We won.”

He smiles one last time before walking off, leaving the couple to embrace each other, both never taking their eyes off the gifted photo. Although, what they don’t know, is the member of their family who was behind the camera.

_“Get in, get in! Closer!” He says, waving his hands so Barry and Iris squish Nora, hugging her tight with bright grins on their faces. “Mia! Lucy! Get out of the shot!”_

_Neither of them respond well to that statement so he just takes the photo anyway, pressing a few buttons to see the finished product as they all walk over to him. He holds the camera out so they can all see and says, “Cute. That actually turned out pretty nice.”_

_Barry hums, ruffling a hand through the boys’ hair lovingly as he mumbles, “Thanks, Don.”_

**_and if my wishes came true,_ **

**_it would’ve been you._ **

**Author's Note:**

> and it's done!!
> 
> thank you so much for reading and i hope this second part did you all justice in comparison to 'all over me like a wine-stained dress' !
> 
> ps. to anyone who may be reading my other work titled 'give you everything i have, teach you everything i know' DID Y'ALL SEE MY QUEEN LUCY?? lol
> 
> don't worry, the series isn't over yet. i will be adding more parts, taking place in our earth-prime timeline and maybe even a few missing scenes ;)
> 
> Title from "the 1' by Taylor Swift
> 
> leave a comment if you liked it!!


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